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Samuel Laycock
Samuel Laycock (17 January 1826 - 15 December 1893) was an English dialect poet who wrote in the dialect of the Lancashire cotton workers. Life Lycock was born at Intake Head, Pule Hill, Marsden, West Yorkshire, the son of John Laycock, a hand-loom weaver. His formal education consisted of attending Sunday school and a few months at a local school. Laycock began work in a woollen mill at the age of 9. In 1837, when the family moved to Stalybridge, Cheshire, he worked as a cotton weaver and later cloth looker. In 1850, Laycock married Martha Broadbent, a cotton weaver, but she died 2 years later. He remarried in 1858 to Hannah Woolley, who died in 1863. His third marriage was to Eliza Pontefract in 1864 and she survived him. He had several children by Hannah and at least 2 by Eliza, including Arthur, who became a novelist. The American Civil War (1861–1864) badly affected the Lancashire cotton towns as supplies of raw cotton dried up. Laycock was one of the thousands unemployed and tried to earn a meagre living by writing verses which the unemployed could set to music and sing in the streets for pennies. In 1864, he published Lancashire Rhymes and in 1866, Lancashire Songs, poems which documented the everyday life of cotton workers. In 1865, Laycock became the librarian at Stalybridge Mechanics' Institute, and in 1867 took up a similar post at The Whitworth Institute, Fleetwood. He moved to Blackpool in 1868 because his health was poor.Hollingworth, Brian, ed. (1977) Songs of the People. Manchester: Manchester University Press; p. 153 He continued writing while working as a photographer, while his wife ran a lodging-house. Just before his death in 1893, he published a collection of poems, Warblin's fro' an Owd Songster. Laycock died of influenza, which developed into acute bronchitis,Biographical notes at his home, 48 Foxhall Road, Blackpool. He was buried in Layton Cemetery, Blackpool.Laycock biography Recognition There is a memorial blue plaque at the site of the Mechanics Institute on the High Street in Stalybridge, where Laycock worked for 2 years as librarian.A Tribute to Samuel Laycock 1826 - 1893, Tourist Information Centre, Tameside Metropolitan Bureau. Web, Feb. 17, 2017. Publications Poetry *''Lancashire Rhymes; or, Homely pictures of the people. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1864. *''Lancashire Songs. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1875; Manchester, UK: John Heywood, 1885. *''Warblin's fro' an Owd Songster. Oldham, UK: W.E. Clegg, 1893. Collected editions *Collected Writings. Oldham, UK: W.E. Clegg / London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1900. ''Escept where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Samuel Laycock, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 17, 2017. See also *List of British poets References External links ;Poems *"Welcome, Bonny Brid!" in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895 *Samuel Laycock at PoemHunter (3 poems) *Broadsheet poems ;Books * ;Audio / video *Lancashire Lyrics: Poems penned by Samuel Laycock during the Lancashire cotton famine at Vimeo *Samuel Laycock at YouTube ;About *Samuel Laycock, Lancashire Poet at Gerald-Massey.org Category:People from Marsden, West Yorkshire Category:English poets Category:English-language poets Category:Deaths from bronchitis Category:Deaths from influenza Category:Infectious disease deaths in England Category:1826 births Category:1893 deaths Category:English male poets Category:19th-century English poets Category:19th-century male writers Category:Dialect poets